A. Field of the Invention
This application relates generally to wagering on external contexts such as sporting events, and more particularly to managing high volumes of peer-to-peer wagers placed on actions or results occurring during an external context as it transpires in real time.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Wagering on external contexts such as sporting events is an age-old tradition that can be traced back to the first Olympic Games in Greece, if not to the first time two men engaged each other in a foot race or some other test of strength or skill. People continue to place wagers on virtually any external context known to man. This can range from outcomes of organized sporting events such as basketball, football, hockey and baseball games, to races between people, horses, dogs and automobiles, to which one of a flock of pigeons will fly away first.
Wagering on the outcome of sporting events (typically winners and losers based on the score of the event) and races (typically based on who finished first and/or the order in which the participants finished) has been big business for a very long time. More recently, providing the ability for participants to do so on-line is fast becoming the preferred mode of engaging in such transactions. The market for these wagers is typically provided by a business known as a sports book. The sports book provides odds as to the likely outcome and accepts wagers on all outcomes, with the odds set by a central odds-maker to ensure that the sports book will make a profit regardless of the outcome.
Other types of wagers may also be offered for these external contexts, including wagers known as proposition (i.e. “prop”) bets. Prop bets are not limited to the actual outcome of the game (i.e. the winner and loser). Rather, prop bets can be made concerning certain statistical features of the game, such as whether the total number of points scored between the two teams is over or under some predetermined total score (sometimes referred to as an “over/under”). Another example of such a bet could be, within the context of a football game, based upon an/over under regarding how many total yards of offense will be gained by one or both teams, or how many total sacks will be given up by one or both teams. An example of a non-statistical prop bet might be placed regarding which player will be named to receive the “Most Valuable Player” (MVP) award, or whether there will be a wardrobe malfunction during the half-time show.
Traditionally, these bets must be transacted before the game starts, after which betting is typically closed. The outcomes of these wagers are then evaluated to determine winners and losers as soon as the event horizon or time-line for the wager closes. In the case of a wager on the outcome of the game, or the over-under on total points scored, the event horizon originates with the opening kickoff, will extend to and terminate at the end of the game. In the case of which player wins the MVP award, the event horizon or time-line for the wager will extend until the winner is announced by the voters for the award. In some cases, halftime bets may permitted, in which case the opportunity to bet will be run throughout the halftime break of the sporting event such as a football game, and will close when the game resumes. In addition, the odds will most likely be re-calculated based on the actions that have already transpired during the first half of the game.
Recently, some on-line sports books have begun to offer “in-game” wagering, where a sports book continues to re-calculate and update the odds of the outcome of a game as the game is played, allowing a participant to bet on the outcome while the game is in progress. Some other variations of real-time in-game betting have been offered, wherein for example, the participant can bet on the result of a half, period or some other fraction of the game (e.g. the first ten minutes) rather than on the entire game. Typically, these wagers must be made prior to the triggering of the wager's time-line (e.g. before the period during which the predicted actions or context are to occur or not). The types of in-game actions upon which wagers may be placed, however, have been heretofore significantly limited due to the complexity of managing such wagers. These include the constant updating of the odds and the large number of users that may wish to participate, particularly in an on-line context.
Less structured, but likely more prevalent, are peer-to-peer wagers that are made between two or more individuals. In this case, a first individual proposes a wager specifying context conditions regarding the occurrence or non-occurrence of a possible action, or a series of such actions that may occur as the external context transpires (e.g. as the game is played). The proposing individual provides the market for that wager by offering odds as to the likelihood that such context conditions will be met and puts up the money to ensure a payoff to an acceptor in the event that the proposed context conditions of the wager are fact met. In this case, the individual offering the market for the wager invites one or more other individuals to accept the wager. An acceptor chooses to accept the proffered basis for the wager and agrees to the proposed odds that will determine the accepting individual's payout should he or she win. Typically, the acceptor also puts up the value of the wager to the proposer, so that the funds are available to pay the proposer should the proposer win.
Heretofore, peer-to-peer wagering has typically transpired between friends, or among small groups of people. Such wagers can be proposed and accepted well prior to the onset of the external context, such as the Superbowl, or might occur anytime, even during the game. If the proposed wager is made where the specified condition for the wager concerns the outcome of the game, the wager is usually required to be accepted prior to the onset of the game (i.e. this is the onset of the event horizon for the wager). However, because a few individuals can more easily process such transactions amongst themselves while observing actions of the game transpire in real time, proposed wagers might even be for a more granular level of actions that occur as the external context plays out. In the case of a football game, for example, wagers between peers can be quickly proposed and accepted in real time concerning actions such as whether the next play will be a pass or a run, whether the current drive will result in a touchdown, a field goal or a turnover, or whether the next punt will be returned or fair caught.
Naturally such real-time wagering, even among a few individuals watching a game together and handling their own transactions, must be significantly limited in number and granularity, or the group will soon encounter snags in processing them all. As the external context unfolds and the event horizons for the actions and upon which wagers are made are triggered and/or completed, the individual outcomes of each action or series of actions for each transaction must be evaluated in real time to determine whether the specified conditions were met. This evaluation can be complicated when the apparent outcome of certain actions may not actually be permanent because, for example, a penalty or a replay reversal has wiped out the results of a previous play. In this case, the outcome of a play must be undone, and the conditions of the wager re-evaluated for a new play.
While a few sports books do currently facilitate in-game betting through a web site on-line, such wagering is severely limited as to the types of wagers that can be made. They are typically limited to betting on the outcome of the game as it progresses, or wagering on the outcome of fractions of the game, such as quarters, periods or halves. Beyond these simple types of in-game wagers, it is virtually impossible for a sports book to handle more. The sheer complexity involved in processing such wagers in real time as events of the game (external context) unfold, as well as to centrally set and maintain odds for all of these possible actions that could occur at any time during an external context such as a sporting event. The complexity of managing such transactions increases exponentially as the number of participants becomes large, as would be expected when offering such wagering opportunities in an on-line context.